Patentable/Patents/US-8792196
US-8792196

Disk drive estimating noise in a read signal based on an identified response at the input of an equalizer

PublishedJuly 29, 2014
Assigneenot available in USPTO data we have
Inventorsnot available in USPTO data we have
Technical Abstract

A disk drive is disclosed comprising a head actuated over a disk, and control circuitry comprising a read channel comprising an analog filter and an equalizer. Data is read from the disk to generate a read signal, and the analog filter filters the read signal. The filtered read signal is sampled, and the read signal samples are input into the equalizer in order to equalize the read signal samples according to a target response. A response of the read channel based on the read signal samples input into the equalizer is identified to generate an identified response. Expected samples are generated based on the identified response, wherein the expected samples correspond to the data written to the disk, and an estimated noise sequence is estimated based on the expected samples and the read signal samples.

Patent Claims
10 claims

Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.

1

1. A disk drive comprising: a disk; a head actuated over the disk; and control circuitry comprising a read channel comprising an analog filter and an equalizer, the control circuitry operable to: write data to the disk; read the data from the disk to generate a read signal, wherein the analog filter is operable to filter the read signal to generate a filtered read signal; generate read signal samples in response to the filtered read signal, wherein the read signal samples are input into the equalizer in order to equalize the read signal samples into equalized samples according to a target response; identify a response of the read channel based on the read signal samples input into the equalizer to generate an identified response; generate expected samples based on the identified response, wherein the expected samples correspond to the data written to the disk; and generate an estimated noise sequence based on the expected samples and the read signal samples.

2

2. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein: the data written to the disk comprises a test pattern; and the control circuitry is operable to generate the expected samples by convolving the test pattern with the identified response.

3

3. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to: detect an estimated data sequence in response to the equalized samples; and generate the expected samples by convolving the estimated data sequence with the identified response.

4

4. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is operable to generate the estimated noise sequence based on a difference between the expected samples and the read signal samples.

5

5. The disk drive as recited in claim 1 , wherein the control circuitry is further operable to: amplify the estimated noise sequence to generate an amplified noise sequence; add the amplified noise sequence to the expected samples to generate noisy samples; and detect an estimated data sequence in response to the noisy samples.

6

6. A method of operating a disk drive comprising a head actuated over a disk, and control circuitry comprising a read channel comprising an analog filter and an equalizer, the method comprising: writing data to the disk; reading the data from the disk to generate a read signal; filtering the read signal with the analog filter to generate a filtered read signal; generating read signal samples in response to the filtered read signal, wherein the read signal samples are input into the equalizer in order to equalize the read signal samples into equalized samples according to a target response; identifying a response of the read channel based on the read signal samples input into the equalizer to generate an identified response; generating expected samples based on the identified response, wherein the expected samples correspond to the data written to the disk; and generating an estimated noise sequence based on the expected samples and the read signal samples.

7

7. The method as recited in claim 6 , wherein: the data written to the disk comprises a test pattern; and the control circuitry is operable to generate the expected samples by convolving the test pattern with the identified response.

8

8. The method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising: detecting an estimated data sequence in response to the equalized samples; and generating the expected samples by convolving the estimated data sequence with the identified response.

9

9. The method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising generating the estimated noise sequence based on a difference between the expected samples and the read signal samples.

10

10. The method as recited in claim 6 , further comprising: amplifying the estimated noise sequence to generate an amplified noise sequence; adding the amplified noise sequence to the expected samples to generate noisy samples; and detecting an estimated data sequence in response to the noisy samples.

Classification Codes (CPC)

Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.

Patent Metadata

Filing Date

March 7, 2013

Publication Date

July 29, 2014

Want to explore more patents?

Browse 5M+ US patents with plain-English claim translations and AI-generated analysis.

Citation & reuse

Analysis on this page is generated by Patentable — an AI-powered patent intelligence platform. AI-generated summaries, explanations, and analysis may be reused with attribution and a visible link back to the canonical URL below. Patent abstracts and claims are USPTO public domain.

Cite as: Patentable. “Disk drive estimating noise in a read signal based on an identified response at the input of an equalizer” (US-8792196). https://patentable.app/patents/US-8792196

© 2026 Patentable. All rights reserved.

Patentable is a research and drafting-assistant tool, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. Documents we generate are drafts for review by a licensed patent attorney.